Girls may have been lured by a friend

A police handout of Jessica Chapman (right) and her best friend, Holly Wells. Photo: AFP

British churchgoers yesterday prayed for two 10-year-old girls who disappeared from their village a week ago as police began to focus on the possibility that they were abducted by a family friend.

While detectives continue to analyse computers used by Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, they ruled out earlier suspicions that the pair were abducted by someone they met in an Internet chat room, saying there was a possibility they willingly entered a car.

This may dampen public hysteria about the potential dangers of cyberspace for children, but it deepened the mystery surrounding the two girls.

On Saturday police staged a reconstruction of the last known movements of the girls in the hope of jogging memories, and hoping to make up for two days of intense rainfall that may have covered important tracks.

While closed-circuit television images of Holly and Jessica, which were taken around their village of Soham, Cambridgeshire, do not indicate they were coerced, police have pleaded directly with their abductor or abductors not to harm them.");document.write("

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Newspapers have offeredrewards totalling more than $A3.3 million to anyone with information. The disappearance of the two girls, both of whom are avid Manchester United fans and were wearing the club's red jersey when they left Holly's house, has even prompted the intervention of the club's star and England football captain David Beckham.

He implored the girls to return home last week, saying they would not be in trouble.

Since then police have ruled out more sightings further afield and have said Holly and Jessica were abducted.

But they are adamant the girls are alive.

Hundreds of known sex offenders around Cambridgeshire are being interviewed and at least five specialist forensic psychologists are building a profile of the offender or offenders believed to be holding them.

Today the police will interview sex offenders further afield.

The girls were prayed for at churches across Britain.

Late last week, on the advice of psychologists who advised that the type of person or people who took the girls would probably keep them alive for some days, police appealed for their lives.

Late on Friday and early on Saturday detectives arrested two men - one in his 30s, the other in his 40s - for refusing to co-operate with investigators.

While detectives say the arrests are not a "significant development", the British media is full of speculation that the men may be linked to others who use the Internet to access child pornography and to meet children.

Detectives have established the girls were using the Internet, although they apparently did not visit any chat rooms in the hours before they left Holly's house.

One investigator said some leads were gained from checks on Holly's computer but he refused to elaborate.